Redwood City: New shoreline development plan near

REDWOOD CITY Home builder creating revised plan amid opposition

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, March 4, 2012

The formerly Cargill-owned Ravenswood salt ponds and now part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge are seen in Menlo Park on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Menlo Park, Calif.

The formerly Cargill-owned Ravenswood salt ponds and now part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge are seen in Menlo Park on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Menlo Park, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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Josh Sonnenfeld, Save the Bay campaign manager, looks over the salt ponds in Redwood City where Cargill is proposing a development project on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, Calif.

Josh Sonnenfeld, Save the Bay campaign manager, looks over the salt ponds in Redwood City where Cargill is proposing a development project on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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A skein of geese is seen flying above the salt ponds on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, Calif.

A skein of geese is seen flying above the salt ponds on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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A Cargill Salt sign forbidding trespassing is posted along the fence line surrounding salt ponds in Redwood City where Cargill is proposing a development project on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, Calif. less

A Cargill Salt sign forbidding trespassing is posted along the fence line surrounding salt ponds in Redwood City where Cargill is proposing a development project on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, ... more

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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The salt ponds in Redwood City where Cargill is proposing a development project is seen on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, Calif.

The salt ponds in Redwood City where Cargill is proposing a development project is seen on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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The salt ponds in Redwood City where Cargill is proposing a development project is seen on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, Calif.

The salt ponds in Redwood City where Cargill is proposing a development project is seen on Monday, February 27, 2012 in Redwood City, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

Redwood City: New shoreline development plan near

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Developers who want to build 12,000 homes on the Redwood City shoreline said last week they're close to releasing an overhauled plan, four months after withdrawing the proposal due to public concerns over traffic, water, the environment and other issues.

"We're as anxious as anybody to bring a revised plan to the city," said David Smith, senior vice president for DMB Pacific Ventures, developer of the Saltworks project. "We had hopes it'd be out by now, but we wanted time to do our own internal evaluations. ... It's important to get this right."

The developer pulled the proposal from public review in November and asked the city to halt its environmental process. Since then, the developer has reconsidered every aspect of the plan, from the number of units to the overall footprint, Smith said.

The project, however, still faces its biggest hurdle: water. Previously, DMB proposed a complicated plan to buy 1 billion gallons of water annually from Kern County via the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

The water district wants no part of it, district spokesman Marty Grimes said Wednesday.

"We're not going to be part of any water deal for the benefit of a huge development outside our county," he said. "We don't have any deal with them. We don't have any intention of having a deal with them."

Smith said he's confident DMB will find a solution to the water problem and that several options are under consideration.

Revamping proposal

Saltworks, originally made public in May 2009, called for 12,000 apartment units and houses on an old salt pond on the Redwood City shoreline. The 1,400-acre site is among the last and largest privately owned, undeveloped properties along San Francisco Bay.

After a series of community meetings last year, DMB withdrew the plan in November and asked the city to halt its environmental review while the developer revamped the proposal.

Environmental groups, some residents and a slew of public officials called the plan a regional disaster, likely to clog traffic on already-congested Highway 101 and remove a critical piece of wetland habitat from the bay.

Vanishing wetlands

San Francisco Bay has lost 90 percent of its wetlands over the past century or so, harming birds, shoreline mammals and marine life, as well as water and air quality. In 1999, only 40,000 acres of wetlands remained, but since then another 40,000 - mostly old salt flats - have been tagged for restoration. Environmental groups have identified another 20,000, including the Saltworks site, that could also be restored.

Much of those old salt flats were owned by Cargill, the Minneapolis agriculture giant. In the 1990s Cargill sold most of its Bay Area salt ponds to the state and federal governments for wetlands restoration.

Cargill held on to the Redwood City property, though, in hopes of developing it. The plan - 12,000 apartments and houses, parks, schools, shops and other amenities, designed by noted urban designer Peter Calthorpe - will bring desperately needed housing to Silicon Valley, the developer said.

The Saltworks site is near several other wetlands restoration projects, including Ravenswood, Greco Island and Bair Island, but also borders the Port of Redwood City and an office park.

Green benefits

Saltworks may encroach on the shoreline but is ultimately an environmental boon because it will provide homes near a major employment hub and reduce the need for long commutes and suburban sprawl elsewhere, Calthorpe has said.

In addition, the plan includes huge swaths of wetland open space, parks, the Bay Trail and other environmental bonuses, Calthorpe has said.

That's not enough, said some residents and environmental groups. The best way to protect the shoreline is to leave it alone, they said.

"Our position is, you don't put housing on the bay. Period," said Stephen Knight, political director for Save the Bay. "Former salt ponds like this can and should be returned to tidal wetlands, not houses."

A group called Redwood City Neighbors United is also fighting the plan, saying Redwood City should focus its development efforts on downtown, not the shoreline. Redwood City, a city of 70,000, would grow to more than 100,000 if the Saltworks homes were built.

"We'd like to see this project abandoned, to be honest," said the group's spokesman, Dan Ponti. "People shouldn't be distracted by all the pretty pictures and rhetoric. It has not been approved yet. We can fight it."

'Not suitable for housing'

If DMB brings back a new plan, the city's environmental review process will start again and community workshops will resume. The City Council, and then probably voters, will have their say in a year or two.

"We're in favor of more housing in Redwood City," Ponti said. "But this site is not suitable for housing."

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